The New Neighbors

 

The New Neighbors by Claire Douglas
2/17/26; 400 pages
HarperCollins 

The New Neighbors by Claire Douglas is a highly recommended domestic soap opera focusing on suspicious new neighbors.

Henry and Mariella Morgan, in their sixties, have moved in to the neighborhood on a suburban street in Bristol. They are next door to Lena, mother to seventeen-year old son Rufus, who separated from her husband Charlie seven months earlier. The Morgans seemed nice after Lena briefly met them, but later when she is setting up a microphone to record daytime noises for Rufus's film project, she accidentally picks up a disturbing private conversation they were having. This starts Lena covertly looking into the Morgans while simultaneously seeing suspicious behavior in their words and behavior while she is advised by those she tells to be careful.

The plot unfolds through multiple timelines and narrators. Chapters are from the point-of-view of Lena (who has some chapters set in the past), Henry (whose chapters start back in the 1980's), and an unknown woman named Natalie. The chapters set in the past provide the background information needed to understand. Lena is an emotionally conflicted character whose life, between Rufus going to the university and her separation, is heading toward a transition. 

This is a another well-written, entertaining domestic drama that reads like a soap opera. It might be easy to pick apart the character's actions and thoughts, and there are several things that could be targeted, but it is much more entertaining to set all disbelief aside and just follow the intricate plot and action to the exciting conclusion. Thanks to HarperCollins for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.